Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Naif Al-Mutawa anticipated a struggle when he launched an Islam-inspired comic book series that he hoped would become a symbol of tolerance .

He worried about the comics being banned in Saudi Arabia - which wound up happening , briefly -- and he expected to be challenged by conservatives in Islam , since Al-Mutawa wanted to buck the trend of Islamic culture being directly tied to the Koran .

But it was n't an Islamic cleric that stalled the series , called `` The 99 , '' after the 99 attributes of Allah , which the superheroes are supposed to embody .

It is the American market , and the voices of Islam 's Western critics , that have caused the most problems for `` The 99 , '' says Al-Mutawa , who is the focus of a PBS documentary airing next week .

In 2010 , President Barack Obama called the comic books , which debuted in 2006 , `` the most innovative response '' to America 's expanding dialogue with the Muslim world , which Obama has encouraged . The series features 99 superheroes from across the globe who team up to combat villains and who embody what Al-Mutawa calls basic human values like trust and generosity .

But Al-Mutawa , a Kuwaiti-born clinical psychologist and graduate of Columbia Business School , says a vocal minority have raised surprising questions about American tolerance of Islam .

The idea for `` The 99 '' started during a conversation in a London cab between Al-Mutawa and his sister . It took off , although slowly , after Al-Mutawa raised $ 7 million from 54 investors across four continents .

The first issue was released during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2006 . The comic book was quickly banned in Saudi Arabia and Al-Mutawa received threats of fatwas against him and his project from clerics . But Saudi Arabia eventually lifted the ban and the television adaptation of `` The 99 '' will be aired there this year .

Al-Mutawa and his team have now raised more than $ 40 million in venture capital for the project .

But when word leaked that The Hub , a Discovery Channel cable and satellite television venture , purchased the series and planned to air it in the United States , the response from conservative bloggers and authors was swift .

Pamela Geller , founder of the Atlas Shrugs blog , called the series , part of the `` ongoing onslaught of cultural jihad , '' and created a counter-comic strip that made the 19 hijackers behind the September 11 , 2001 attacks the superheroes .

New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser , meanwhile , urged readers to `` Hide your face and grab the kids . Coming soon to a TV in your child 's bedroom is a posse of righteous , Sharia-compliant Muslim superheroes - including one who fights crime hidden head-to-toe by a burqa . ''

According to Al-Mutawa , the criticism spooked The Hub . `` All of a sudden we could n't get an air date and I was asked to be patient and we have been , '' Al-Mutawa said . `` But it has been a year and the actual push-back died down . ''

A spokesperson for The Hub told CNN that '' ` The 99 ' is one of the many shows we have on the possible schedule , but at this time , no decisions have been made about scheduling . ''

Al-Mutawa is n't shy about responding to the criticism his comics have received in the U.S. `` There is nothing different from them and the extremists in my country , '' he says . `` They are just as bad . They are just intellectual terrorists . ''

Geller , author of the book `` Stop the Islamization of America , '' called Al-Mutawa 's statement `` ridiculous victimhood rhetoric . ''

`` He is the one mainstreaming oppression and discrimination , '' Geller says . `` I work for equality of rights for all people . So which one of us is the intellectual terrorist ? ''

Geller also takes issue with Al-Mutawa 's assertion that `` The 99 '' exemplifies `` moderation '' and `` toleration , '' pointing to a `` burqa-wearing superhero . ''

But Al-Mutawa says criticisms of burqas are evidence that , `` for some people anything to do with Islam is bad . ''

`` How clichÃ © is it that characters created to promote tolerance are getting shot down by extremists , '' he says .

Al-Mutawa 's frustrations are chronicled in the new documentary `` Wham ! Bam ! Islam ! , '' which will air on PBS on October 13 as part of the Independent Lens series .

The film 's director , Isaac Solotaroff , began shooting before the comic was released .

He said that one of the most surprising aspects of the story is how `` a very small group of people who scream very loud , have a disproportionate share of the public discourse when it comes to culture . ''

Echoing Al-Mutawa , Solotaroff calls it a case of the tail wagging the dog . He says that initial concerns of censorship in the Middle East began to change as the project progressed .

`` We were waiting for a fatwa from a cleric in Saudi Arabia , Solotaroff says , '' when it ended up being the U.S. market that has been resistant to `` The 99 . ''

`` Realizing that The 99 will not survive if focused solely on the Middle East , Al-Mutawa must now target an international and predominantly non-Muslim market , '' reads the website for `` Wham ! Bam ! Islam ! ''

Citing The Hub holdup , Solotaroff says the project is now stuck in the most important market '' for `` The 99 . ''

Al-Mutawa is also trying to gain distribution for his TV series in France and other countries , but his main focus remains the United States .

`` One way or the other , '' he says , '' ` The 99 ' will get on air in the U.S. ''

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Creator of Islam-inspired comic series hoped would become a symbol of tolerance

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Naif Al-Mutawa says he expected outcry from conservatives within Islam

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When a TV series in Middle East was financed , he sought to get it aired in U.S.

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Conservative bloggers in the U.S. spooked TV deal , Al-Mutawa says